Upon hearing The Hanging Man's words, Klein's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He had an ominous feeling, but he didn't bother with his persona. He put down the lantern, took out two pieces of paper from his pocket, crumpled them into balls, and stuffed them into his ears.
Seeing that German Sparrow didn't ask any questions and did as he was told, Alger couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. He sighed inwardly at how easy it was to work with an experienced fellow. Even an adventurer with the title of Crazy could listen to reasonable words and know what to do and what not to do.
Just as he was about to throw the dead rat in his hand, which was still warm, at the Illusory Chime Tree to attract it, he suddenly saw the bushes beside him shake as a yellow-skinned, black-striped tiger crawled out.
Amidst the beautiful tinkling of the chimes, the tiger walked towards the strange tree in front of it. Its movements were normal, but its eyes were glazed over. It had an indescribable sinister feeling.
Upon seeing this, Alger lowered his arm and temporarily gave up on the attempt to throw the dead rat. Enduring the excruciating headache, he calmly watched the yellow-skinned, black-striped tiger walk to the Illusory Chime Tree amidst the increasingly urgent and loud melodious sounds.
It squatted down, raised its right paw, and flicked out its sharp nails to slash its neck.
Blood gushed out, but the tiger seemed to lose its sense of pain. It continued pulling at its claws, making the wound deeper and longer. Then, it began to peel off its fur bit by bit, revealing its mangled "naked" body.
The chimes gradually subsided as the branches suddenly came to life. They spread downwards and stabbed into the unbearable body of the tiger that had lost the protection of its fur.
Already prepared, Alger immediately drew the dagger by his waist, opened his mouth, and sang hoarsely.
"Rush, rush, rush,
"O sea, rush against the gray and cold rock!
"Rush, rush, rush, rush,
"O sea, break at the foot of the rock!" (Note 1)
His voice was rough and bold, but it was completely out of tune. It was completely contrary to the normal understanding of humans and creatures, and it carried a metallic rumbling noise, filled with a power that made people feel irritated, disgusted, and headache-inducing.
The branches of the Illusory Chime Tree trembled at the same time and retracted, as if they were about to curl up together. Then, the beautiful chime that rang out softened the terrifying noise.
Beside Alger, Klein had used paper balls to plug his ears and had actively converged his spirituality. At that moment, the veins on his forehead were throbbing. He instantly had the urge to kill the singer and destroy everything in front of him.
Furthermore, he felt as if his brain was being torn apart. The muscles and blood vessels under his skin were squirming slightly on their own.
Other people need money to sing, but Mr. The Hanging Man's singing is asking for your life! Klein fought against the irritation in his heart by complaining.
"Charge! Rush! Charge! "
Every word Alger uttered gradually approached the sound of waves crashing against the reefs. Bolts of silver lightning struck down one after another, as though they were cheering.
Silver lights lit up one after another as they struck the surface of the Illusory Chime Tree, causing the strange tree to tremble uncontrollably. The shaking of its branches turned stiff and chaotic, making it difficult for it to produce a neat hypnotic melody.
Alger took this opportunity to throw the dead rat aside and extend the short blade in his hand.
The sound of wind whistling could be heard. Invisible sharp blades whizzed over and slashed at the branch closest to the trunk of the Illusory Chime Tree.
Kacha!
The fist-sized, colorless, translucent fruit fell straight to the ground, swept up by a strong wind, and flew into Alger's palm. The tree, which was covered in cracks that resembled eyes, froze as the remaining branches drooped down, losing their vitality.
Indeed, as long as I gather and grasp the correct information beforehand, Beyonder plants with relatively low intelligence are easier to deal with than animals of the same level … Alger took out the metal cylinder he had prepared and stored away the fruit of the Illusory Chime Tree.
Then, he turned his head and looked at German Sparrow.
"Let's continue …"
His words suddenly came to a halt as the corresponding phrase "forward" vanished from his throat.
At that moment, he saw German Sparrow's cold face warp slightly. The whites of his brown irises were slightly dyed red, as though he would explode and attack him at any moment.
Alger tensed up as he slowly took a breath and completed his sentence.
"Let's continue forward."
"Let's go." German Sparrow replied hoarsely as he circled around the withered Illusory Chime Tree and walked deep into the Black Forest.
He didn't get the tree bark, branches, or other materials that were rich in spirituality. This was because he would definitely encounter quite a number of Beyonder creatures later on, and he didn't have any so-called storage artifacts. Of course, he had to reserve space for more valuable items.
Besides, carrying too many heavy items on him clearly wasn't conducive to using the agility of a Clown.
Unfortunately, those are all lifeless materials. They don't have my blood, so there's no way to enter Rosell's Travels … I can use a marionette to bring them in, but it's very troublesome. It's not beneficial for subsequent explorations … As Klein sighed silently, he calmed his emotions and extricated himself from the remnant influence of The Hanging Man's singing.
This was the most unpleasant and exciting singing he had heard in his two lives!
If "The Hanging Man" continued for another minute or two, he couldn't guarantee that he would be able to control the urge to beat him up.
Just using a paper ball to block one's ears and converge one's spirituality can only weaken the influence and not completely isolate it … Even a deaf person can still hear it. This includes "communication" at the spirituality level … This is likely the most difficult ability for an Ocean Songster to defend against. Furthermore, once it appears, there's no way to dodge it. I can only avoid the Lightning Strike ahead of time. This Sequence 5 is also rather powerful … However, why does Mr. The Hanging Man's singing feel completely different from Elvish Songster Siatas's … As Klein summarized and analyzed his experience, he felt somewhat puzzled.
At this moment, Alger, who was walking beside him with a lantern in hand, couldn't help but consider a problem.
Even German Sparrow can't tolerate my singing for long. How am I to act as an Ocean Songster …
In the silent atmosphere, the two of them quickly advanced through the thick trees that were covered in snake scales, approaching the ancient ruins.
With the Seafarer by his side, Klein saved himself the effort of using a dowsing rod to find the path. He focused on guarding against any sudden attacks that might appear around him.
In the dark and silent environment that felt like a horror story, the two of them traveled for an unknown period of time before they discovered that the trees in the black forest were gradually thinning in a regular pattern.
This was different from the situation when they encountered the demigod-level feathered serpent. Back then, the trees had suddenly thinned out, appearing abrupt. Here, it was a gradual process, giving them the illusion that they were about to leave the black forest.
"After passing through this area, we'll reach the periphery of the ancient ruins," Alger broke the silence and said.
He paused and casually added, "According to my experience, the closer we get, the more dangerous it is.
"Based on my experience, the closer you get to that place, the more dangerous it is. The traces of demigod-level Transcendent lifeforms that I discovered before were all found nearby. However, the strange thing is that there are no traces of Transcendent lifeforms at the edge of the ancient ruins. As for the depths, I don't know."
There's a high chance that there's an even more terrifying existence in the ancient ruins. That area is its "territory," so other creatures don't dare approach … Klein mumbled.
He had a hunch about the danger of this expedition. He had done the corresponding divination above the gray fog, and the revelation he received was that there would be setbacks and problems, but there was a high chance of leaving safely.
After The Hanging Man finished speaking, Klein chuckled.
"You should know what my guess is."
He didn't say anything else as he entered the area with sparse trees and weeds.
Alger silently walked beside him, increasingly convinced that his judgment of German Sparrow was correct.
Calm and crazy!
After walking dozens of meters, they suddenly saw a pair of ghostly-blue eyes appear at the end of the lantern's light.
It was a black baboon squatting on a tree branch. Its fur was naturally curled, and black crystals grew out of its head. These crystals grew upwards, clustered into a strange crown without any pattern.
Upon seeing the black baboon, Klein and Alger simultaneously had the urge to lower their heads, as though they didn't dare look at it directly. They felt that it was the ruler of this forest, its lord.
Lord … Alger relied on the intense headache brought about by the Whip of Mind ring to extricate himself from the influence. He hurriedly took a step to the left, attempting to avoid the front and leave the unknown Beyonder creature to German Sparrow.
This was their previous agreement.
However, despite clearly taking a step to the left, he ended up walking forward. Furthermore, his legs were limping, as though he suddenly needed a crutch.
Subconsciously, Alger drew his dagger, sending sharp wind blades whizzing towards the black curly-haired baboon.
At this moment, the baboon grinned.
The wind blades in midair suddenly changed directions, either slanting to the left, drifting to the right, floating up, or sinking, perfectly avoiding their target.
When Klein saw this scene, he gave up on his plan to approach the baboon using normal methods. His left glove turned transparent, and his body turned invisible.
Alger stopped his agitated actions and saw German Sparrow's figure in a half top hat suddenly appear behind the black curly-haired baboon. The distance between them was less than five meters.
Right on the heels of that, the black curly-haired baboon's body suddenly stiffened, as though it had lost most of its control. It even raised its palms with great difficulty, half digging at its eyes in an attempt to distort something.
German Sparrow had already taken advantage of its delay to raise the iron-black revolver in his right hand and aim at its head with the dark muzzle.
Then, the crazy adventurer pulled the trigger without any expression.
Excerpt from Tennyson's "Rush, Rush, Rush."
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